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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27358321">It's Always the Quiet Ones</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpruceOutOfFive/pseuds/SpruceOutOfFive'>SpruceOutOfFive</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sterek Week 2020 [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Werewolves, Don't copy to another site, Drama, Drama &amp; Romance, First Meetings, How Do I Tag, M/M, One Shot, Sterek Week 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:46:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,441</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27358321</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpruceOutOfFive/pseuds/SpruceOutOfFive</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of watching horror movies at home, Stiles and his friends are spending Halloween at a club in Mexico. When Stiles' friends abandon him, he starts regretting that he didn't try harder to learn Spanish before their trip. Stiles regrets it even more when in the club he sees the most gorgeous man to walk on Earth, and finds himself from the spot where he has to decide whether to go and talk to him, or save himself from the inevitable humiliation and possibly live to regret his decission the rest of his life.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, minor Scott McCall/Malia Tate/Kira Yukimura</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sterek Week 2020 [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984156</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It's Always the Quiet Ones</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi, so I completely underestimated how busy my weekend ended up being and did not manage to do my final round of editing and posting this thing. And then the fact that I didn't post this one in time really ate all my motivation to do said editing. But here it is now, several days late, though I decided to date this thing on 31st now because I don't need the reminder... Anyway, Sterek Week 2020: Halloween.</p><p>Thank you Cera for being an awesome friend and betaing both this and all my other fics so far. You help me make these stories better &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Stiles wasn’t sure whose idea it had been to make a weekend trip to Mexico at the end of October, but that’s what they were doing. Usually Stiles spent Halloween watching horror movies all by himself as Scotty had never been a fan of them and Stiles’ dad worked a lot so he wasn’t able to keep Stiles company that often either. But this year, instead of being home alone, he was in some random club in Mexico, celebrating Halloween along with many masked strangers.</p><p>Stiles wasn’t wearing a mask, and neither were his friends. Lydia had informed them that Mexicans don’t really celebrate Halloween, but instead have their own, different festival to commemorate the dead, Día de Muertos. And even those celebrations wouldn’t be starting before their group started to head back to Beacon Hills.</p><p>But apparently someone hadn’t gotten the memo of Halloween not being a thing in Mexico, because the club their group had stumbled into was full of people dressed up in different costumes and celebrating Halloween in American style. It hadn’t even been that late when they had found the club, Los Lobos, and still it seemed like the party had been going on for hours before they joined in.</p><p>Scott, Malia and Kira had quickly found their way in the middle of the dancing mass. The triad practically glued to each other on the dance floor, leaving strangers no room to join in on their fun.</p><p>Lydia had quietly scoffed at Stiles when he’d asked if she wanted to join the three and then proceeded to enjoy the fact that Parrish hadn’t yet had the courage to ask her out. She shamelessly flirted with strangers in her perfect Spanish and received many free drinks for her troubles.</p><p>And then there was Stiles. Standing awkwardly alone, a drink in his hand, by the bar counter, abandoned by all of his friends. </p><p>It actually really sucked because unlike Lydia and Scott, Stiles didn’t speak Spanish. Sure, he knew some basic phrases and then he’d completed Duolingo’s lessons about flirting in Spanish right before this trip, just so he could say he’d made an effort to learn <em> something</em>. But honestly, Stiles had thought he could rely on Lydia and Scott when it came to interacting with the locals, especially after Lydia had demanded that they drive further into the country in order to find a place that wasn’t completely overrun by tourists. </p><p>Stiles would fully admit he had enjoyed the scenery and the chance to see a regular little city, but there was the downside that fewer people spoke English this far out. Meaning, Stiles and his friends had to speak Spanish.</p><p>Which Stiles didn’t speak. </p><p>He was too busy teaching himself Polish without adding other languages to the mix!</p><p>But Stiles was really starting to regret his decision not to practice Spanish more. He regretted the whole decision to celebrate Halloween out of his own bedroom where he could have been sitting on his bed, huddled under a warm blanket, wearing pyjamas and eating popcorn while watching the newest horror movies on Netflix. Sure, he’d been alone then too, but it’s better to feel lonely in solitude than in the company of others. </p><p>Back home Stiles could have also sneaked a little something from his dad’s liquor cabinet because while he was legally old enough to drink here, they’d taken his jeep on the trip, meaning he was the driver and needed to remain sober. No rum cokes for Stiles, just the regular ones.</p><p>Stiles sighted and took a look at the partiers. That’s when he spotted <em> him</em>. </p><p>The most <em> gorgeous </em> man to ever walk on Earth.</p><p>Stiles wasn’t sure how he’d managed to miss the man when they’d first walked into Los Lobos because now that he’d noticed him, the man stuck out like a sore thumb. The man didn’t have a costume either, he was wearing regular dark jeans and a light grey t-shirt. At least Stiles thought it was light gray, the distance and the lighting didn’t make it too easy for him to identify the color.</p><p>Stiles was still staring at the man, his chest to be exact, trying to make up his mind about the color when the man turned his head and his eyes went straight to Stiles.</p><p>Blushing, Stiles looked away. However, when some seconds later he was brave enough to peek at the man again, he saw those same eyes roaming over Stiles’ own body and a smirk that was almost daunting on the man’s lips. The eyes met Stiles’ and the man raised his brow to him.</p><p>
  <em> Your move. </em>
</p><p>Stiles wasn’t sure what to do. Because the man was all kinds of gorgeous with his dark beard, shiny eyes and a body to kill for, and Stiles had trouble believing it was <em> him </em> whom the man was eyeing. But he hadn’t seen anyone else when Stiles had glanced behind him, at least not anyone who was looking back at the stunning being who was smirking at Stiles even more after that move. It made Stiles want to go over and talk to the man that much more.</p><p>Could he really afford to pass a chance like this? No one ever flirted with Stiles. He had had almost no action at all since Malia and him broke up. And that little action there had been? No one, absolutely <em> none of them </em> had been anywhere near as beautiful as this man.</p><p>So why wasn’t Stiles already running there and climbing on the man’s lap? Unfortunately, there had been no magical language acquisition for Stiles in the past few minutes. It would be mortifying to try to have a normal conversation with the man on Stiles’ skill level, even worse to chat him up.</p><p>But if he didn’t go, he’d be regretting not trying every day of his life. Stiles just knew it. The man really was <em> that </em> gorgeous.</p><p>Besides, what was Stiles’ other option? Stand there alone by the counter and drink his coke when his friends were having fun? Maybe end up watching the man find someone else to flirt with? Didn’t sound like a fun evening at all.</p><p>And just like that, Stiles took his first steps towards the gorgeous stranger.</p><p>Said man was following every move he made but his smile turned slightly kinder when Stiles came closer, no doubt noticing how nervous he was.</p><p>“H-ola,” Stiles greeted, stuttering slightly. The easiest word possible and he was already messing up. Stiles was even more sure that the night would end in disaster and maybe even him wearing the stranger’s drink.</p><p>“Hola,” the man said back gently. He took a sip of his drink and then, when it seemed like Stiles wouldn’t say anything else, he asked:</p><p>“¿Cómo te llamas?”</p><p>“Oh, umm, Stiles.”</p><p>“¿Stiles?”</p><p>“Sí.”</p><p>The man offered his hand and Stiles just automatically grabbed it. He didn’t have the time to regret not wiping his palm on his pants first or anything, because the man was already saying something while gently shaking Stiles’ hand.</p><p>“Mucho gusto, Stiles. Yo soy Derek.”</p><p>“Mm-mucho gusto.”</p><p>Silence fell over them after that. When it started stretching Stiles was about to panic. What had he been thinking? Why had he thought this was a good idea? He had trouble finding <em> English </em> words in the company of beautiful people, he didn’t stand a chance coming up with any Spanish ones. And Derek seemed to be content with just staring at Stiles with a wolf like grin on his lips while taking small sips of his drink.</p><p>Stiles wasn’t content with that. <em> Not at all</em>. He was used to noise, used to filling any and all silences with his talk, so really, he had two options. Either he would say something to start a conversation because Derek apparently wasn’t the talkative type, or he would make himself scarce and get the hell away from the club, possibly even out of the country.</p><p>But Stiles <em> really </em> didn’t want to.</p><p>And it wasn’t only because Stiles would not have actually been able to leave the country. Although the fact that he would have to sit and wait in the jeep until his friends had had enough of partying <em> was </em> also a factor, Stiles’ real reason for not leaving was that he actually <em> wanted </em> to have a conversation with Derek. </p><p>Stiles wanted to know what hid behind that grin and silence. It could have been so easy to interpret Derek’s silence as something malicious or as an attempt to get rid of Stiles if it weren’t for the man’s eyes.</p><p>Those gorgeously beautiful, stunning hazel eyes that were looking at him so gently it made Stiles’ knees a bit weak.</p><p>No one had looked at Stiles like that before. Not even Malia when the two of them were still an item. </p><p>And that look, that look was what gave Stiles’ brain enough fuel to construct, or well, copy a working Spanish sentence.</p><p>“¿Vienes aquí a menudo?”</p><p>Stiles really, really hoped that he actually asked if Derek came there often, and <em> not </em> something rude or crude or anything that would result in Stiles indeed wearing coke stained clothes or even getting punched.</p><p>But Stiles was a slightly paranoid and a very pessimistic bastard, so he held his breath waiting for the answer. He absolutely did <em> not </em> trust Duolingo nor his own brain not to betray him when talking to attractive people.</p><p>Stiles resigned to his fate and expected the worst. Hence, Derek’s rapid speech almost startled him.</p><p>Or maybe <em> rapid </em> was a wrong word to use to describe Derek’s talking. His speech wasn’t particularly fast, it was probably the slowest Stiles had ever heard a native Spanish speaker speak. But there were so, <em> so </em> many words it took Stiles’ slow brain a moment to realize the man was talking. </p><p>And then Derek just kept going and going. It was surprising because Stiles had really thought the man was the quiet type, and now Stiles was shown to have been so profoundly wrong he didn’t even know how to deal with it. Stiles was so used to being the talker in the room that the new role required some adjusting as well.</p><p>But honestly, Stiles was actually enjoying himself. He had absolutely no idea what Derek was saying, he wasn’t even sure if the answer to his question had been yes or no. But Stiles found that he didn’t really care.</p><p>It was captivating, watching Derek be so relaxed and just talk. Listening to the ups and downs of Derek’s voice while the man explained something or other was relaxing to Stiles too, because he didn’t need to worry about finding the right words from his very limited Spanish vocabulary.</p><p>Stiles didn’t know how long they were like that. Derek talking and looking at Stiles with that intense look gaze and Stiles wistfully hoping he had taken Spanish so he could actually understand what Derek was saying, when a woman in a Lady Dracula dress walked over.</p><p>“Hey Derek, I need to run a quick errand for Peter so I need you to keep an eye on the new hires while I’m gone. Can you do that for me, little bro?”</p><p>“Will do, Laura,” Derek answered without even taking his eyes off of Stiles.</p><p>Stiles was staring right back at Derek. But unlike in the last <em> who even knows how many </em> minutes, Stiles wasn’t admiring the beauty of those eyes or trying to name all the colors he could see in them. No, Stiles was too busy being in shock because those words that had just escaped from Derek’s lips had been in English. A language Stiles could wield, if not excellently then at least in a way that people understood him most of the time. And more importantly, he himself could understand the speakers of that language.</p><p>“You know English!?” Stiles finally managed to exclaim.</p><p>“I do.” And there was that smirk again. <em> Stiles </em> wasn’t as amused. Feelings of annoyance had started to creep in, only to lose the battle to the mortification. Had he read Derek all wrong? Had the man actually tried to get rid of him the whole time and then just been secretly laughing at Stiles’ attempts to communicate with him in Spanish? What had Derek been saying to him before the woman - Derek's sister? - had interrupted his monologue?</p><p>Stiles didn’t dare to ask.</p><p>“Are you American?” Stiles demanded instead. </p><p>If he wasn’t going to get an answer to <em> those </em>questions he might as well satisfy his own curiosity while buying time to think, to process. Because he hadn’t detected even a trace of accent when Derek spoke English, although he hadn’t really said that many words yet...</p><p>“I am.” Derek said it so calmly, still staring intensely, but the smirk had turned into a more neutral expression. It still made Stiles want to scream, though. Maybe even shake the man. </p><p>He was just about to snap at Derek when a hand was so, <em> so </em> slowly and gently placed on Stiles’ own which had turned into a fist while resting on the counter.</p><p>“And you made me flirt with you in Spanish?” What he had meant to deliver as a snappy demand came out quiet and resigned. Why would Derek take ahold of his hand if it was just a joke?</p><p>“I did,” Derek said softly, almost too much so to be heard in the crowded club.</p><p>“Why?” Stiles asked evenly. It was hard though, under that intensive stare that Stiles couldn’t understand. But he wanted to learn to. So, so much so.</p><p>“Well, first of all, you never actually asked me if I spoke English,” Derek paused there, no doubt being slightly intimidated by the dirty look Stiles gave. Or at least that’s what Stiles himself chose to believe. The man didn’t keep up the silence for long though, which was good, because Stiles wasn’t impressed by that excuse.</p><p>“I was also flattered that you tried to talk to me, even though you obviously don’t speak Spanish much. And without even resorting to some crude come-ons. Not that I would have really minded those either because you’re-,” and now Derek was blushing and rubbing his neck in embarrassment. </p><p>“Beautiful,” he finally breathed out.</p><p>Stiles was stunned. </p><p>He was what?</p><p>“What?”</p><p>The flush on Derek’s cheeks turned darker.</p><p>“You’re beautiful. And I seriously wasn’t trying to be a dick. Just, at first I wasn’t sure you had spoken to me in Spanish on purpose, maybe to practice it. It would have been rude to switch to English when I could perfectly well answer to you in Spanish too.”</p><p>“But I sucked! I stammered and all on what was the simplest possible greeting!”</p><p>“Yeah, well, I- I was thinking it was just me that caused that? I mean, I- you wouldn’t have been the first one to be taken aback a little when trying to talk to me,” it was Derek’s turn to stammer through a sentence. And the adorable embarrassed neck rubbing continued. </p><p>It was almost funny to see a guy who probably was propositioned on a daily basis to get so worked up by having to address the fact that people found him attractive. Because, yeah, Stiles could definitely imagine people not being able to find the right words when confronted with Derek.</p><p>“So, at first you thought I wanted to practice my Spanish and didn’t wanna seem rude? I can get that. But what about after you without a doubt realized that I was just nervous about speaking because I didn’t know the language, why did you keep it up? For shit and giggles?” Stiles' voice was much calmer now. He was no longer worried that Derek had done what he did just with malice and with intentions to humiliate Stiles.</p><p>“I admit, it wasn’t the most mature of me. And I wasn’t planning on keeping it up that long but then, it seemed like you were fine with just listening to me speak, that you were enjoying it. And then I just… I  found too much to say.”</p><p>“What did you say?” Stiles was beyond curious now. Derek had kept up his monologue for what must have been over half an hour without taking any breaks in speaking.</p><p>“At first I just answered your question, yes and no. I told you that I’ve been around lately because the club is owned by my uncle Peter but that Laura, my older sister who you saw earlier, and I are just visiting for a while. We both live in Oakland, as do our parents and many other relatives but Cora, our younger sister, lives here with Peter and goes to the local university. We’re celebrating Día de Muertos together before going back.”</p><p>Derek paused and Stiles waited impatiently as the man raised his glass on his lips only to notice it was empty and order another one. Derek offered to buy Stiles a drink too, and while Stiles was flattered, he didn’t feel like drinking anymore soda. He was feeling jittery enough without the added sugar and caffeine of a coke.</p><p>“I didn’t have much to tell about myself after that so I just- I started wondering out loud where you were from and how did you end up here, in my uncle’s club. I said that I hoped you were from California or then Arizona. If you were from there, you would have most likely driven here and if you did, you’d be close enough to visit from Oakland. Because I would like to. And then I just-”</p><p>Derek just stopped</p><p>“You just?” Stiles leaned forward on his stool and found Derek’s eyes again. It was truly baffling how fast the man had changed from that confident, gorgeous being into this flushing, embarrassed one. But it was adorable. Seeing someone get so flustered because of <em> him</em>, well, not exactly just because of him but <em> mostly</em>, was a completely new experience for Stiles. It woke something <em> feral </em> in him.</p><p>Derek stared back at him, and it looked like he was considering something, weighing Stiles up with his eyes alone. The hand still resting over Stiles’ squeezed lightly. Stiles would have squeezed back if Derek’s hand wasn’t enclosed around his, giving Stiles nothing to grab. Best he could do was stroke the side of Derek’s palm with his thumb.</p><p>“I started telling you how I had never met anyone as beautiful as you. The way your eyes shine even in this dim lighting, how you bit your lower lip when you were deciding if you’d over here and talk to me… I just- I’ve never really been good at that. Using my words to show my appreciation or attraction to anyone, but with you, the words just came. It was easy to find the right ones, even though I don’t even know you. But I would really like to learn to,” the last line was said determinedly. Apparently, Derek knew what he wanted and was now asking for it, having had enough of hesitating.</p><p>Stiles could admire that. Much more than just admire even. So he asked, amusement coating his voice.</p><p>“So, you practically spent close to thirty minutes singing my praises <em> because </em> you knew I couldn’t understand them?”</p><p>Derek simply nodded.</p><p>“It really is a shame,” Stiles said, startling Derek with his mirthful voice and eyes that were sparkling with mischief.</p><p>“What is?” Derek asked a bit warily. </p><p>Smart. A gleeful Stiles was always a Stiles up to something. The man had good instincts.</p><p>“That you chose to trick me, because I would have loved to give you a treat now,” Stiles winked.</p><p>Derek froze, speechless. Stiles was guessing that the man hadn’t actually expected anything to happen after his little trickery came to light and Stiles got upset. But Stiles <em> wanted </em> things to happen. And yes, maybe he wanted to get even with Derek too, but those two things weren’t necessarily mutually exclusive!</p><p>So, Stiles took a step forward, boldly let his hand travel down Derek’s chest and whispered. </p><p>“When your sister comes back and frees you from your babysitting task, the two of us are going to find us a vacant bedroom from somewhere, and then I will show you how to play trick-<em>and</em>-treat.”</p><p>Derek had barely swallowed the moan when Stiles’ hand had traveled even lower than he’d expected and <em> squeezed </em> on the last word. He couldn’t bite back the whimper when Stiles’ lips found his ear and teeth clamped on the lobe though.</p><p>“I hope you know you should be scared.”</p><p>Derek was on board with that.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading! Come say hi to me on tumblr :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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